Air cooling for internal-combustion engines



July, 7, 1953 R. A. HOXIE 2,644,435

' AIR-COOLING FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed June 24, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 21 i V 1\ g( INVENTOR. 841/ 604. f/OX/f BY M, W 4 42m A 7' TORNEYS.

Patented July 7. 1953 ENGINES Ralph A. Hoxie, Detroit, Mich.,;assignor to Continental Motors-Gorporation,-Detroit,- Mich.,a

corporation ofVirginia Application June 34, 1947, Serial No. 756,578 Claims. (Cl.1'23--41.'65)

. 1 This invention relates to air-cooledinternal combustion engines, particularly to such engines ofthe V-type. j

In engines of-the type specified; distribution of the cooling air. mass should be such'as to assure u'nifo'rm cooling for most effective and 'eflicient engine operation. Bad-distribution of the cool- I ing air will result'in' undercooling some portions and overcooling others.

. It is an object of this invention to provide an air-cooled internal combustion engine in which the cooling air is distributed for maximum and uniform cooling. This isaccomplished by the use of a fanand baffles arranged to distribute cooling air over those portions of the engine which wouldiotherwise not be properly cooled.

In the drawings: Figll is a section through a portion of the engine substantially at right angles to the'crai'ikshaft, and

Fig. 2 is a view in sectio ngsubstantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. I

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the inter-cylinder baffle.

This invention is embodied in an :air cooled in- "ternal combustion engine of the V-type;

much as the twobanks of the V are substantially the-same for-the'purposes of this invention, only v one bank oftcylindersis shown in Fig. 1, and it will be understood 'thatithe': engine is substantial- 1y symmetricalabout-center line According to the invention; a plurality ofcylinders -,2 provided withcooling fins-4 is arranged in the form of a V, one bank or leg ofwhichis shown in the drawings. In addition to the numerous fins 4 which form planes substantially perpendicular to the cylinder axis, each cylinderis also Inasformed with numerouszpompadour fins fi which form planes substantially'parallel to the cylinder axis.

The space between the two banks of the V is covered by'a closure indicatedgenerally at 8. 1 An air passage 10 is provided through the closure.

Thepassage I0 is preferably'annular toreceive' a-ring of-vanes- -i2 rotatably mounted on afanor blower wheel !4.- {The ran: is" driven by the crankshaft in a-mannerwhich is disclosed in de- 1 tail and claimed in patent application Serial Number 747,025, filed May 9, 1947, now abandoned, and assigned to the assignee of this invention. A portion 16' of the closure may be hinged to provide access to certain portions of the cylinders, for the replacement of spark plugs,

etc. The engine shown is an overhead valve type havingan overhead camshaft l8. A plurality of inter-cylinder connectors 20 form a continuous housing or casing for the camshaft.

In order to give the desired direction to cooling air flowing over the fins, the cylinders are provided with baffles in the vicinity of thepompadour fins. The baflles. are mounted on the cylinder heads by means of mounting ears 22. Each baflieisxprovi'ded with a projection 24 which partially'overlies the .pompadour fins at 26. As can be readily seen in Fig; 2, the projections 24 of adjoining bafiies of adjacent cylinders substantially meet or come together at 28 to prevent air flow past the baffles in an axial direction.

The projections 24 are secured to the mounting cars 22 by ribs .30. The ribs 30 of two ad- ,joining baffles come together to form a V as can .be seen in Fig. 2. "Air .fiows between two branches of the V and onito the pompadour fins.

Opposite the rib 30, each baflie is provided with another projection 32. The two projections 32 meet as can be seen "in Fig. 2; this meeting of the projections, plus the fact that the projections .32 substantially abut against the underside of the inter-cylinder connector 20, serves to prevent any appreciable flow of air completely past the baffles v in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the cylinders.

v Operation In operation, the fan 14 rotates in such a way as to blow air'upward, thus inducing air to flow inward and upward from the sides of the engine outside the V'; Air is forced to flow over the pompadour fins G'by the bafiies. The path of the air flow. is as follows: between the two projections 30 asshoWn by the arrows 34; in the direction of the crankshaft axis as shown by arrows 36; downwardfand dver thepompadour fins 6, as shown by arrows 38; in the direction of the crankshaft aiiis toward the space between cylin- I der heads as shown by varrows 493; and transversely of the cylinders towardthe fanas shown by arrows 42.

Without the bafiies, it is clear that the mass of cooling an would follow the line of least resistance which would in that case be such as to bypass the pompadour fins 6. The fins 6 would thus be inadequately cooled, resulting in hot spots onthe cylinder heads and consequent ineflicient operation of the engine.

I claim:

1'. In anair-cooled internal combustion engine comprising a plurality of aligned cylinders forming a bank of cylinders, a crankshaft common to all such cylinders, cooling fins on the cylinders disposed normal to the cylinder axes and pompadour fins on each cylinders head lying in planes extending generally parallel to the crankshaft and cylinder axes, a blower supported in juxtaposition to said cylinders and constructed to induce air flow generally normal to the engineplane containing said cylinder and crankshaft axes, and baflle assemblies mounted on the cylinder and comprising a floor portion having projections which partially overlie said pompadour fins and which bridge the gap between the pompadour fins of adjacent cylinders, said bafile assemblies further each provided with a 'rear wall blocking direct flow of some of the air through the gap between said cylinders and deflect same laterally into direct heat conducting relation with said pompadour fins. v

2. In an air-cooled internal combustion engine comprising a plurality of aligned cylinders forming a bank of cylinders, a crankshaft common to all such cylinders, cooling fins onithe cylinders disposed normal to the cylinder axes and pompadour fins on each cylinder head lying. in planes extending generally parallel to the crankshaft and cylinder axes, a blower supported in juxtaposition to said cylinders and constructed to induce air fiow generally normal to the engine plane containing said cylinder and crankshaft axes, and bafiie assemblies mounted on the. cylinder and comprising a. floor portion having projections which partially overlie said pompadour fins and which bridge the gap between the pompadour fins of adjacent cylinders, said bafile assemblies further each provided with a rear wall blocking direct flow of some of the air through the ap between said cylinders and deflect same laterally into direct heat conducting relation with said pompadour fins, said laterally deflected airbeing turned back by the cylinder and, caused to flow generally parallel with said pompadour fins and thence discharge through the gap between said cylinders below the floor portion of said baflle assembly.

3. In an air-cooled internal combustion engine comprising a plurality of aligned cylinders forming a bank of cylinders, a crankshaft common to all such cylinders, cooling fins on the cylinders disposed normal to the cylinder axes and pompadour fins on each cylinder head lying in planes extending generally parallel to the crankshaft and cylinder axes, a blower supported in juxtaposition to said cylinders and constructed to induce air flow generally normal to the engine plane pompadour fins, said laterally deflectedv air being turned back by the cylinder and caused to flow generally parallel with said pompadour fins and thence discharge through the gap between said cylinders below the fioor portion of said baflle assembly, said baflle assembly comprising complementary sections secured respectively to adjacent cylinders and symmetrically disposed in abutted position along a'plane extending normal to the crankshaft and midway between the two adjacent cylinder axes.

4. In an air cooled V-type internal combustion engine havin a crankshaft and a plurality of cylinders arranged into two banks of aligned cylinders, a closure for the space between the cylinder banks, an air passage through the closure, a blower in the air passage and operable to induce airflow between the cylinders, cooling fins on the cylinder heads and extended in a plane parallel to the crankshaft and normal to the air flow between said cylinders, a baffle on each cylinder head, and a projection on the bafile overlying at least a portion of the cylinder head cooling fins, said baffle comprising a baffle portion deflecting said air flow laterally and downwardly into contact with said cylinder head fins, said bafile comprising complementary sections respectively secured to adjacent engine cylinders and disposed in abutting relation and symmetrically arranged with respect to an engine plane extending normal to the engine crankshaft and midway between the two adjacent cylinders to which said sections are secured.

5. In an air-cooled V-type internal combustion engine having a crankshaft and a plurality of cylinders arranged into two banks of aligned cylinders, a closure for the space between the cylinder banks, an air passage through the closure, a blower in the air passage and operable to induce air flow between the cylinders generally normal to the engine plane containing the cylinder and crankshaft axes, cooling fins on the cylinder heads and extended in a plane parallel to the crankshaft and normal to the air flow between said cylinder, a baflle on each cylinder head, and a projection on the bafiie overlying at least a portion of the cylinder head cooling fins, said baffle comprising a bafiie portion deflecting said air flow laterally and downwardly into contact with said cylinder head fins.

RALPH A. HOXIE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number I Name Date 1,359,727 Munson Nov. 23, 1920 2,113,939 Granville Apr, 12, 1938 2,174,418 Hersey Sept. 26, 1939 2,236,573 Klemm Apr. 1, 1941 2,263,605 Atteslander Nov. 25, 1941 2,330,779 Gregory et a1 Sept. 28, 1943 2,439,775 Kennedy Apr. 13, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 494,140 Great Britain Oct. 20, 1938 834,674 France Nov. 29, 1938 840,602 France of 1939 200,785 Switzerland Jan. 16, 1939 220,009 Switzerland June 16, 1942 

